Weekly Update: Week 36

Dang! This is the second week in a row that I am posting a day late. I'm becoming a slacker in my late pregnancy... But to be fair, this past week has been a doozy.

How far along? 36 weeks.

How much weight have you gained? 30 pounds

Any cravings? Not really.

What are you wearing? Clothes, unfortunately. They have become such an bothersome thing to put up with... 

How are you feeling? Symptoms? Weird skin tingles in my back left shoulder blade area. Not sure what that's all about or if it is at all pregnancy related. Other than that I'm mostly feeling BIG. 

Stretch marks? Nope.

Belly button in or out? It's like an outie donut. 

Sleep? Ugh! It's getting rough to stay comfortable. Last night I kept waking up panicking about things I haven't done yet!

Best moment this week: Spoiler alert!: We found out we have a healthy fetus!!!

Worst moment this week: Oh, where to start... After the ultrasound showed a rotated heart last Monday we got scheduled for a level II ultrasound/echo with a high-risk OB at one of the St. Louis hospitals. We attended that appointment and they took a good long look at her heart and determined it was functioning properly, but definitely rotated. That made them look at outside factors that could be rotating the heart. They thought there was a mass above the heart that was the culprit. They told us it could be a large thymus, or another mass of some kind like a tumor or extra lung tissue, but with the ultrasound they could not tell what it was. He did say that he had never seen a situation quite like ours, so it was not something normal. So after spending a long time with them that day they referred us to Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center to the St. Louis Fetal Care Institute for a fetal MRI. 

Eek! It was worrisome to say the least. We have really sailed through this pregnancy and I thought we were going to make it through complication free, but this threw us for a loop. We tried not to worry too much, but sometimes your mind just gets carried away with all the what-ifs and it can be hard to control.

Everyone I worked with setting up the appointment was amazing. They were super friendly, compassionate, and took the time to make sure we had all the information we needed and understood the process, which I will add was lengthy... We were scheduled that day for a fetal MRI, an ultrasound and possible second echo, as well as meetings with a genetics counselor, a social worker, and a coordinator. When we arrived Monday morning we were checked in to our own private waiting room before I was whisked off for the MRI. It lasted about 30-40 minutes and my lower back was killing me by the end from laying as still as I could. Little lady on the other hand was having a heyday in my belly in the beginning. I thought for sure we were going to have a longer session because of her crazy movements, but she settled eventually, and afterwards the tech said he didn't have any troubles. After the MRI they gave us a voucher  and a break for breakfast since I had to be fasting for the scan. 

The whole time everyone was sooo nice. It almost made it scarier! We had the appointment with the genetics counselor next and she hinted that she thought the doctors were thinking everything was looking pretty normal. When we went in for the ultrasound, the tech told us she thought her heart looked pretty, and then finally we met the doctor who said everything looks good. Yes, her heart is rotated, but by his measurements on a particular snapshot it was 60 degrees opposed to the normal 45 degree angle. And he said that yes, she has a big thymus (which will shrink over time), but both "abnormalities" are still within normal variation. She is doing her practice breathing, and practice swallowing fine, and we shouldn't anticipate any complications arising from either thing! It was the best news we could hope for!

He said we can continue care with our original OB's (who actually pale in comparison to the level of care we received this past week) and basically go back to normal. It was like last week was an unpleasant commercial break, and at the end the doctor just said "and now back to your regular scheduled programming pregnancy." Honestly, we stayed pretty positive the whole week and other than a few low moments kept most of the worrying away until we knew for sure whether we had any real issues to worry about. I'm pretty proud of how upbeat I was most of the time and it really wasn't even just pretending, I really felt pretty positive and strong about the whole situation.

Luckily for us we were part o the 25% of parents that got to walk away from our appointment with great news. The doctor said 75% of the time when patients get to see him, there are real complications. As we were leaving, we commented on how pleasant they made such a tough experience and how they are the nicest people we hope to never see again. 

And now we have some wicked cool MRI photos of our baby inside of me. 

Miss anything? I'm starting to miss being able to relax and be comfortable. It's really tough finding a good positions even when I have lots of pillows. 

Movement? Still plenty of movement. I had about two glorious days this week where she wasn't sticking her feet into my rib cage! Those days were short lived though. 

Excited for anything? Spring! Even though I still really want some good snow this winter, the beautiful weather on Saturday and Sunday made me so excited for spring and to have a little babe in my arms as the season awakens! Can't wait!

How’s dad-to-be? Relieved! Neither of us an complain after getting such good news after a stressful week.

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